The Runaways
by Capt. Amabel
Summary: A group of runaways form together in a world were Mutants are feared. Based on real people, powers made up. Please R&R. Based on the movies, comic, and cartoons. Should prove interesting :]
1. Chapter 1

We dont own the X-MEN! But We do own our selves in these stories. So please R&R More to come, but please remember that there are three of us writting this. And most of the people in the Runaways are based on real people/ Animals. Thank you. We'll give a list of who's wo in the zoo once we get done with chapter 3. Thank you!

Christinialynne backed away from the boys as they stalked closer.

"Come here little freak." One of them sneered.

She closed her eyes, and tried hard to concentrate, but the taunts got past her mental barrier. _Easy, _she thought,_ don't get too stressed, and it will just come to you._

But it didn't, and they didn't go away. Not until they had left her crying and bruised to the very bone. After they left, Christinialynne slowly pulled her self together so that she could find her way home.

She lived with a group of run away friends, and as such, they called themselves The Runaways. Not just because they had runaway from home, but because most of the time, they runaway from fights. Chrissy thought this was a good idea. For now, at least.

Growing up as a pagan, she was raised to believe that anything could and would happen. Wishing on stars, blowing out candles on a birthday cake, and lucky horseshoes were all acceptable within her family. Until the things that Chrissy wished for or wanted started appearing before her. Her family shunned her, saying she was using BlackMagick, and soon family friends had begun to call it the same. Call her the same. Soon after the friends found out, everyone knew, and then she was call Mutant. So she ran from home to a Teenage Relief House, where, subsequently, many other mutant teens had gone to hide out. Not to long after that, they heard that the government wanted to start The Mutant Registration Program, and the money stopped for the TRH, and was pumped into that instead.

Christinialynne, or BlackMagick as she was now called, shrugged her shoulders, and winced. Damn powers. Never around when she needed them. She didn't know why it worked the way it did, but when she was calm, and concentrating, she could conjure anything she wanted. In time of need, it didn't help her at all.

She stumbled and hugged her self as she walked down the street, cried out as she stubbed her toe, and heaved a sigh when she saw the lonely, but promising, sight of the abandoned coffee shop. Chrissy quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching, or even glancing in her general direction. The location or truth about who lived here was one of the most important secrets that any of the teens had. Again, checking the coast, and making sure it was clear, she backed up to a boarded up window and pushed her way past the window coverings. Once inside, her eyes adjusted to the dim light, Christinialynne sought out the pathway through the upturned tables, and chairs. Through to the back she went, listening for sounds, and keeping a light pace. Once she reached the storeroom, she looked over her shoulder one last time, and then opened a hidden door in the floor.

This was home.


	2. Chapter 2

We dont own the X-MEN! But We do own our selves in these stories. So please R&R More to come, but please remember that there are three of us writting this. And most of the people in the Runaways are based on real people/ Animals. Thank you. We'll give a list of who's wo in the zoo once we get done with chapter 3. Thank you!

Hemlock rushed to the door, grabbing the medical kit on the way, as she saw BlackMagick enter the back room, bruised, bloody, and crying. Se helped her into an old chair, a remnant of the condemned shop.

"Who the fuck did it!" Katie asked. "What did they look like? Were they kids?"

"Katie, it's okay. You're never going to find them. You can't get everyone who attacks us, it happens every day. Plus there was like eight of them. You aren't as strong as you think you are," Christinialynne strained to say.

Katie scowled, beginning to dress Chrissy's wounds indignantly. "Kit, give me a hand here. Grab that rag and stop the bleeding."

"You know, I could do that for you…" Jeezer called from his sleeping bag in the corner.

"Okay, get over here." Katie barked. She had a distaste for Jeezer, or Durango, the healer, due to his lazy disposition.

"Okay, just give me five more minutes…" He said, yawning.

After Christinia was bandaged up, Katie made chamomile tea over their butane camp stove. Everyone else had gone to sleep, other than Monster, who had not yet returned to their makeshift sanctuary.

"We can't keep doing this, Chrissy. We have to do something about our vulnerability. I'm sick of having people come back like this. People just can't get over the fact that we are better than them."

"We're not better, just …" She thought for a moment before a smile came to her lips, "Unique!"

"Hmph. Well, leave my ego alone. I'd like to see one of them fight one of us and win. You think they could hold their own? No." Katie sighed. "I just need to… breed. We need to work on our population. That's all the damn humans got on us, anyways. So… I've got Monster. I just love a man with stamina!" She started laughing, and then realized Monster, or Sean, had entered the room, and laughed harder. "How long had you been there?"

"Long enough babe, let's get started," Sean said wit a half grin, and Hemlock pushed him away.

"I was just kidding!" She yelped, face red.

Christinialynne turned a beet red. So red, that she covered her face with her hands to hid it in the dark.

"Alright, alright, but hit me up if that offer starts soundin' appealing." He walked to his bed, putting on his headphones. "I'll be expecting you later tonight," He winked, before turning on his techno music.

"Ugh. That's terrible." Katie made a face, making Christinialynne giggle.

"Okay, I'm gonna go to sleep now…" She said in that skeptical tone of hers.

"Kay, night hun." Katie replied as Christinia went behing the shower curtain dressing room to change for bed.

Katie poured another cup of tea, wincing as she heard her friend yelp, obviously having trouble changing due to her injuries. She internally cursed Durango for being so damn lazy. She had challenged him to a few fights in the past, but Christinia would not stand for one of the Runaways fighting with brother mutants. She taught us to get along, being as we had all gone through the same hardships. But Hemlock doubted that. Her father had been a military man in a high position of power. He had trained her hard all her life, never letting her take an easy way out. They had moved many times throughout her life, leaving little time for any kind of social life. She had learned to fight her way through hardships, not taking shit from anyone but her father, who was ruthless with discipline.

Her life took it's inevitable turn one day in Washington, when she was sitting in the backyard of their condo. Her father came into the yard and began yelling at her for slacking off on cleaning the house. Something in her snapped, and she began yelling back for the first time in many years. He raised a fist to her, and all of a sudden vines grabbed his arms, pulling him back to the wall.

"Freak!" He had screamed. "What the hell is this!"

She stared, shocked, until he pulled himself out of the thin ivy and charged at her. He beat her senseless, then thrown her into her room.

"You're one of those freaks! My own daughter, a freak of nature! Pack your shit, I never want to see your face again!"

She didn't know how her own father could tell her to leave without a second thought. She had grown accustomed to his harshness, though, and did what he had asked without a second thought. Her mother silently gave her two-hundred dollars, her monthly spending money, as she left, with a tearful hug. There was no more she could do. She would most likely get a beating when she could not give her husband a receipt for what she had bought. He was one of those men who could beat you senseless and leave not even a bruise.

But that wasn't the kind of beating Hemlock had gotten her last day with her father. She had roamed the streets for weeks, limping, face swollen, until she met up with BlackMagick. Together they had fought off three perverted attackers that had cornered Hemlock. Since then they had picked up six other mutants, and found their current place of residence.

Katie sighed, bringing herself out of her depressing memories. Sometimes she found it easier not to think. She undressed into a big t-shirt, and layed down with a Faulkner novel, soon drifting off into a much needed sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Liz sighed as Christinialynne came out from behind the curtain dressed in a too large shirt and pajama bottoms, and wished there was something she could do to make her feel better. There wasn't though. Suddenly their situation was _really _stressing the older girl out and the only thing useful _she_ had dreamed up in days was a bracelet that she'd pawned just an hour ago to refill the first aid kit, and despite that she was feeling perfectly useless.

They had the chamomile tea, though. That had come from a wonderful day dream Dream (as Liz often went by) had had two weeks earlier involving a large house for The Runaways in the middle of nowhere during a thunderstorm, and each and everyone of them curled up on comfy furniture in front of a roaring fire sipping…chamomile tea. In all honesty she would have rather had the comfy furniture or the deed to that house, as opposed to twelve boxes of Hemlocks favorite tea and personalized cups and saucers for everyone, but she wasn't about to argue when it could have easily been the roaring fire, and them without a fireplace. Where would they be if this coffee shop burned to the ground like her house had?

"You can use my sleeping bag tonight, if you want, 'Magic." She made the offer knowing she wouldn't be taken up on it. The sleeping bag was wonderful, another thing she'd dreamed up just a few weeks before she'd run into Roller, when the weather had really begun to turn. She offered it to somebody new every other day, and BlackMagic always refused, insisting that it _hers_ and hers alone as she'd 'conjured' it before she'd met the rest of them.

"No, Dream. I'm not going to take your sleeping bag." The standard answer, that was okay. It was the usual after all, and Chrstinia wasn't getting a choice tonight. Katie had decided to give basic self-defense lessons all day long, so for two nights in a row the ringleader of The Runaways was going to bed sore. All Dream needed to do was stay up later than her, something she was sure to do tonight considering 'Magic was already dressed for bed and exhausted, and then switch out some blankets. The others would help, for sure.

Sometimes she loved her powers. Other times (like when the house burnt down and her mother had realized just how dangerous she really was) she hated them.

She was a day dreamer in the most extreme sense. When she had been little she'd played Pretend all the time, and then around first or second grade Pretend had moved into her head, silent and powerful, entertaining for hours. Harmless.

In her freshman year things had started appearing. The first had been a pair of wicked gauntlets. Leather, free-fingered, with metal tipped knuckles, and elbow pads, gauntlets which she wore almost constantly to this day. Liz had dabbled in karate for two years before then and often dreamed of happily kicking some real bad guy ass al la Final Fantasy. She'd been in the car with her mother at the time. They'd nearly hit the car in front of them.

After that it'd been small things, cupcakes when her birthday neared, more fighting accessories (a staff that she still had, more interesting clothes than her standard white uniform, and a generic but deadly looking dagger her mother had no idea about), buckets of ice in the summer, and rakes in the fall. But then she'd dreamt of having a fireplace, and the house went up in smoke, as did her mother's tolerance. Not so harmless, now.

When the word mutant flew through her mother's lips she grabbed her gym bag and gunned it, staff in hand. She'd been in the city two days when her lack of proper sense of self-preservation and timing had gotten her into serious trouble, and a week when she met Roller in a pawn shop trying to sell the man a digital camera he said he'd found sitting, forgotten on a park bench. He followed her to the condemned where house she'd been squatting in and asked her, calm as you please, why she'd run away from home.

Now the coffee shop was home and she was a Runaway, with a capital R.

Sighing, Liz curled her hands around her mug as BlackMagic, sat on her bedding pile and took the tea Hemlock offered. There was a yellow bruise on her face where before had been a nasty cute, and more peaked out from under her clothes, and made Liz want to hunt down the creeps who had done it. Katie obviously felt the same. The two girls were the only ones of the group who went against their 'run away' nature, and would fight their way out of a jam as soon as turn tail, and were generally the ones who would jump a group of assailants from behind should they happen upon anyone ganging up on their friends. They were always more than willing to hunt down the ones they'd missed.

Unfortunately a day had already passed and even if the thugs who had attacked Chrissy had remained near last night, they would be gone by now. It was too bad. Dream had been jittery and itching to fight all day, and even now, sitting on her bed, she was expecting (wanting) a fight.

The room shook violently and a rotting piece of flooring from above their heads fell and landed inches from Monster's head, while Liz jumped from her seat spilling her tea.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Katie raged as she sprang forwards.

She ran to the stairs which lead to the ground floor of the coffee shop, followed closely by Liz and reluctantly by the rest, who would no sooner allow themselves to be crushed by falling floorboards than they would be jumped if they had any choice.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok, Here is the character list in the Runaways, and please remember that powers are due to improve or change, like all mutant powers do.

Christinialynne - BlackMagick Has the ability to conjure anything in a state of calmness

Katie - HemlockHas the ability to maneuver plant life to her will

Liz – DreamHas the ability to transfer her dreams into reality

David – The RollerCan change his mass and shape to that of a sphere

Sean – MonsterWill change to a green color and bulk when energy levels are raised

Anissa – KitHas the features and instincts/senses of a fox

Durango – JeezerHeals by touch

Jason – DeadRabbitInvulnerability

In the time it took for everyone to get the stairs, pieces of the building were falling around them. BlackMagick sent up a quick word, hoping that their under ground home would not be touched. Another crash, and the sound of broken glass rang through Black's ears. This was not good. _What's going on, and why is it happening to our little piece of heaven?_ The whole building shook again, causing the stairs to quake.

"Dead Rabbit, you go first, then Katie, then me, Sean, Durango, Kit, Liz, David. Lets keep this as easy as pie please." BlackMagick, in her shocked calm, summoned a bulletproof vest. She really didn't know what they were going up against, but it helped to be prepared. Everyone was ready, getting into their positions, with Jason going first. Hopefully his powers would shield the team as they left the basement.

As Dead Rabbit left the basement, he came face to face with the bane of the mutant community. A Sentinel.

"Unregistered mutant. Expendable."

Jason cocked an eyebrow. "Are you serious?" He looked past was was once the front door, and diplay window of the coffee shop, and saw people screaming, running for their lives. Another Giant robot steped our from around a corner and looked down to the running masses.

"Do not be alarmed. I am here to serve and protect."

"Chrissy, darlin', that's a fuckin' Sentinel. Give us some kind of protection. I can't do anything against a huge robot, and I'm pretty sure the others can't do anything either." She looked at the rest of the group. "Yeah, no. I think right about now our name is very true to us. Let's run away, and fast."

BlackMagick shook her head. "No, I'm taking a stance! You were right… For once!" Christinia looked around and saw Dream hiding behind one of the fallen apart walls. In a too calm voice she yelled, "Runaways, Attack!"

Kit, and David looked skeptical. As did Jason and Jeezer.

This was _shit, _Dream thought, as she scrambled behind the newly fallen barrier and shoved her head between her knees.

"Christinia, NO! We need to run." Hemlock. Why wasn't 'Magic running? Jason was the only one who could possibly withstand a Sentinel, and only because hurting him was so difficult. Running was their only choice. They needed help. Help, help, help.

Weren't there mutants out their with more destructive powers? In New York, even? They needed to show up, badly. People with, like, lazers and other shit – anything. Help, help, help. HELP. People who could fly. Why couldn't any of the Runaways fly? It was common wasn't it?

People were still screaming out there. She heard Roller and Monster, and the crash and clang of metal and concrete. Were the boys fighting? They shouldn't be. Somebody needed to help them. She couldn't hear Katie or Christinia at all, so hopefully they had run, but the boys needed to get their heads in the game…or out of the game as the case may be.

_Help_, she thought again, as the Sentinel repeated itself.

"Unregistered mutant. Expendable."

Help, people who could fly and cause destruction -- people who were _safe_ besides. No doubt their hideaway was trashed, and even if it weren't, a city clean up crew would make them leave.

BlackMagick still stood in a state of shock, looking around and watching the world of chaos around her. She started towards Kit, who was trying to rip out wires from one of the robot's feet. But as she got closer, the other stepped in front of her path.

"Halt, mutant!"

The tremor that was caused by the Sententel's foot knocked Black on her ass, making her cower in the rubble. But that didn't stop the huge mechanical thing from reaching down to bring her into his clutches. "Unregistered mutant. Expendable."

"Christinia!" Hemlock screamed. She grabbed on to a small maple tree growing in a planter in the shopping mall the coffee shop was in, and climber up to the top. She concentrated, and the tree's growth sped up, bringing her to the arms of the sentinel. She jumped onto an arm, pulling herself up and trying to crawl to its hand.

The robot simply flicked its arm, and Hemlock was screaming in fury and fear. She then felt someone grabbing her from behind, and the pain of the force of her body hitting another. "Got you, don't worry," She heard a disconcerting African female voice say from behind her. She was soon set on the ground. The woman flew back up into the air and lightening bolts were soon flying from her fingertips, electrocuting the Sentinel, as another woman, one with a head full of curly hair with a white streak in front, set Christinia next to her. The sentinel came crashing down before them.

"Hey, Bub, why don't you pick on someone your own size?" A man with claws jutting from between his knuckles began slashing wires from the robot's neck.

"Halt Mut-" The Sentinel was cut off, and the lights in his eyes dimmed to darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

_Fuck,_ Hemlock thought. _Musta hit my hand when I grabbed onto that Sentinel._ She massaged her knuckles on her right hand, eyes still closed, enjoying the warmth of the bed. _Beds rock. I should sleep in beds more often._ She slowly opened her eyes, then propelled herself to her other side, the morning light from the window having shone into her eyes like a flashlight in a hospital room. "Ugh," she groaned.

She pulled herself into a sitting position and looked around the room. There was another bed in the room, which looked like it was made in a rush. She and BlackMagick had been assigned this room the previous night. The mutants that had saved them from the Sentinel had brought them here. Apparently it was a school for "gifted youngsters." A mutant school. Professor Charles Xaivier said we would get training and proper schooling here. _Good, the Runaways need the training,_ she had thought. As soon as she was brought to her room, she laid down and, as she would say it, "passed the fuck out."

She went to the bathroom and stared at herself. "I look like dog shit," she thought aloud. The half-asleep girl washed her dirty face. She was pleased to see a packaged toothbrush sitting on the counter of the sink she was using. Along with it was toothpaste. She stayed in the shower for an hour and a half, washing everywhere she could twice over, watching caked dirt swirl down the drain, and basking in the idea of hot water on her skin.

When she was out she wrapped herself in the white robe that was hanging on the wall, next to the one Christinia had obviously used. She sprawled out on the bed, feeling cleaner than she had ever been. _I want new clothes._ She decided a shopping mission was much needed, but until then she would wear her old, ripped up jeans with multicolored patches, lime green halter top, Doc Martens that came to the ankle, and leather jacket – other than the boots, all stolen items. She had gotten quite good at it, figuring that if she stole from a major corporation, it was still moral. They made tons of money off of third world countries, after all.

Katie looked at the class schedule, and realized she was two hours late for her first class, and it was thirty minutes into her third one. She didn't care much though, never being all too interested in school, only going to classes and getting straight As because her father was very strict about them. But this period was physical education, a subject she enjoyed. Staying fit equaled survival, this was something her father had taught her. Though she disliked the man and disagreed with his discipline tactics, she agreed with many of his beliefs. She ran to the room that was marked on the map for this class.

Christinialynne had been requested to sit in on a class of the Professor's. It was in his office, the subject of English Lit. The office was very much dressed in the personality that exemplified its owner. Handsome leather chairs, with a dark oak desk, great bookshelves that made BlackMagick's fingers itch to touch, filled to the ceiling with leather bound books.

_You should be paying attention._

Black's Eyes snapped back to the professor's. The whole class was looking at her.

"I'm sorry, I missed the question."

He smiled. "What do you think the underlying meaning of the poem, The Lady of Shallot, is and what it has to do with today's society. "

Christinialynne took a deep breath, realizing that she, too, had done a synopsis of this poem when she was in high school. And that most likely, this was a test.

"Written by Lord Tennyson, in 1832, later revised in 1842. The ballad tells how the effect of love can be totally unnoticed by anyone. And how the thought of just waiting for life to hand you what you want is never acceptable. She sits and weaves, when the story it self is a tapestry. There are four parts, each changing with the seasons, and also changing pretense and past tense. It also alternates the real world, and the world she created. The curse that she keeps talking about, I think she brought on her self. And the underlying meaning of this poem and what it has to do with today is this. If you hope and think of the worst, then the worst with happen." She looked at a couple of the students, then back to the professor. "And like the Lady of Shallot, thinking that the dramatic will get noticed enhanced by your bad choice will only make people think you a fool."

The students looked back to their teacher and waited for his opinion. A couple snickered at her response; one even suggested that her analyst of it was wrong. BlackMagick scrunch her nose at them, "Actually, it isn't wrong, because it's my opinion of the poem, and it's my interruption."

"Absolutely. I want an essay on why a poem is written the way it is, and what images its supposed to create. As well as your own interruption of this poem."

The bell rang as soon as he finished his instructions, making the students file out of the room. It was larger than she had first thought. A Persian rug covered the floor, and busts stood on pedestals behind the desk. The desk was also bigger than she thought, it made the professor look imposing behind it.

"I asked you here this morning because I want you to start observing the other teachers while they work."

When Xavier motioned for her to sit in one of the leather-backed chairs, BlackMagick didn't refuse. "I don't understand though. Why do I need to observe them?"

The professor clasped his hands and set them on the desk in front of him. "The way that your powers manifest leaves much improvement for you. You must concentrate to do anything, yet when faced with a stressful task, your powers leave you defenseless."

"So I'm going to deal with it by watching teachers?" Christinialynne looked doubtful. "To tell you the truth, Professor, I'd much rather deal with my problem alone." She got up from the chair, and started moving towards the door.

_Afraid of feeling wanted?_

The thought whispered in the back of her mind, just like before, giving her the feeling that someone had said something, yet not. She stopped mid stride.

_Alone_

_Feeling alone is better_

_Alone_

The thoughts were layered, and coming from al around.

_Just concentrate_

_Just relax _

_Find your center_

Black closed her eyes, trying to clear her head. While the battle in her head was happening, the Professor was still talking about her observing the others.

"No!" She stated firmly, and opened her eyes.

The thoughts had stopped.

"What objection do you truly have to it?" He asked

"I am not a teacher! You have to go to school for that, and actually know what you're talking about. At best, I could talk about Yoga or dance, paganism even. But nothing else."

"Good. Now that that's settled, we shall have your class gain enrollment at the end of the week, when the semester rolls over."

Christinialynne stood dumbfounded. "What is settled? What am I teaching?"

The professor smiled. " Dance"


	6. Chapter 6

The left leg of her pants had torn open. Both knees had been blown open for ages, but now the left was open from knee to ankle, leaving a flap that would undoubtedly catch on everything, and Liz wasn't entirely sure that was something she wanted to deal with. However, cut offs had never been her favorite style, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to allow anybody and everybody to see the hilt of the dagger that was always stuck in her knee-high boots. The holes in her pants had always given her easy access to the weapon, while keeping it hidden, and that element of surprise wasn't something she wanted to give up in this strange new place, where she was separated from her friends.

Katie and Christinia had been assigned to a room together, but Liz was alone for now, Kit being in the infirmary at Ms. Monroe's insistence. She had been hit by a bit of flying concrete and broken her arm. The doctor was to give all of them a thorough check-up, and because Kit was the youngest and already injured she was voted to be taken care of first. It had been years since Liz had truly slept alone, though, and the sensation of an empty room was unsettling to say the least. Sleep had been long in coming and anything but restful the night before, despite being exhausted and worried for her friends. And now she realized that her pant leg had torn open almost completely in the chaos.

She'd crawled out from behind her concrete slab when she heard Hemlock screaming for Christinia, and managed to dive out from under a huge metal foot, just before it hit the ground. She looked up just in time to see someone in a cape grab Katie off the Sentinel, and someone else set Christinia down next to her, before she turned away to look for the others. She found Jeezer off to the side of the street with David and Monster, apparently healing various scrapes and bruises, and Jason was running over to Christinia and Katie, but Anissa remained out of site until the end of the battle. By the time she inched out of the bookstore across the street from their coffee shop, Jeezer was swaying on his feet and only had enough energy left to stop the blood flow and set the bone. Liz had had to dodge several pieces of shrapnel and flying glass and concrete after emerging from her hiding spot. At some point her pants had caught on something, but she didn't what or when. Such a mystery…

But what to do about it? Somberly, she glanced in the drawer of her bedside table – nothing. Oh, well. Maybe somebody out _there_ would have some safety pins.

Sighing she stood and picked the class schedule off of her nightstand. She'd missed her first class, and wasn't too keen on showing up twenty minutes late to her second one. Had anyone been to see Kit yet, she wondered.

Decided, she pocketed the schedule and walked to the door, but stopped with her hand on the knob, unable to turn it and open the way to the hallway. It was the middle of second period, but who was to say that everybody had class right then? Navigating her way through a house full of strangers wasn't all that appealing an idea. But she _really_ wanted to see Kit, or at least ask somebody how she was. She didn't want to be alone in here. She wanted even less to be alone out there.

…still…

Cringing she opened the door, and slipped into the empty hallway. Not ten minutes later she hit someone rounding a corner. She shrieked and backed away, apologizing profusely before recognizing the man she'd run into. It was the man who'd shown her to her room. The one with the strange red sunglasses – Scott. He didn't seem to be upset at all, in fact, he was chuckling as he said his 'I'm sorries'.

"I was just looking for you," he said calmly. "You missed your first class. I know it takes a while to get used to things here, and you're not in trouble. We just wanted to make sure you were all doing okay."

"Oh." She nodded slightly in understanding.

"Are you alright?" he asked, and Dream realized she must look terrified.

"Oh," she said, trying to calm down now that she wasn't alone. "Yeah, I was just trying to find the Hospital Wing. I, well, I wanted – I just wanted t-to see Kit."

Scott nodded in understanding, and walked down the hallway the way she had come.

"It's this way," he said. "And your friend's alright. Jean – Dr. Grey, put her arm in a cast last night, and started the check-up about an hour ago."

Dream nodded, then realizing that she was walking behind him and that he couldn't see her, said, 'oh.'

My, but her vocabulary was wonderful today, wasn't it?

Scott lead her through the mansion, pointing out places of interest. From the Library to the Rec. Room, and the Dinning Room, but Liz was hardly listening. Instead she focused on not meeting the gazes of whoever else they happened to pass. Finally they came to the infirmary.

Freaky stainless steel. The place was built out of shiny silver metal. Freaky. Thankfully, Durango was kind enough to speak up before the look of the place managed to really seep through the layers of shock surrounding her and become truly intimidating.

"Hey."

"What are you doing here?" she asked. While she hadn't really thought of it, logic dictated that Durango should still be asleep.

"This is where my schedule told me to be."

"Oh." Wait! "You woke up and looked at your schedule? And you did what it said?"

Durango shrugged and raised both eyebrows, apparently surprised with himself as well.

"I've only been here ten minutes, maybe," he said. "Besides, I wanted to see how Kit was doing."

"Where is she?"

He nodded his head towards a door to his right in true Jeezer fashion, refusing to take his hands out of his jean pockets. He hadn't once moved from his spot, leaning against the wall next to the infirmary entrance.

"In there, getting her check up."

"Oh."

Liz moved over to the wall next to her friend and sat down to wait. It figured he'd been there early (and it still was early for him) to see Kit. Although she was twelve, she was still the youngest of them, and everybody loved to dote on her. She was downright cuddly, something her fluffy tail and soft coat of fur would never let her outgrow. Not to mention she was rather short, standing just barely at 5'3". She, Liz, and Durango had all joined the Runaways within a two week stretch and being new at the same time had become close quickly, or at least as close as Jeezer allowed people to get due to his sleeping and attitude.

If it weren't for his constant naps, Liz thought, Katie would have killed him quickly and with little remorse. At least she would have before she noticed the healing energy he _radiated_. It came off him like heat and was (the group had decided) why he was so tired all the time, but if you were sitting close to him, even uninjured, you tended to feel calm and at peace with the world. That did have the unfortunate side effect of any argument with him needing to be done from half way across a room, at least, making all of them loud.

As it was, sitting there with her arm brushing lightly against his jeans, Liz felt her fear and shock melting into anticipation of learning her way around this new place, and continuing her education.

"Yay! You're here already. I was worried I would have to find my way around this place on my own."

Standing, Liz opened her arms for a hug from her friend, happily ignoring the scratch of the neon pink cast against the back of her neck. Jeezer got a similar greeting.

"Well, hello there."

The red haired woman stood in the middle of the room, smiling slightly at the trio.

"I am Dr. Grey," she said, and nodded towards Durango. "I take it,you are…Jeezer?"

"Yeah." She smiled and nodded again.

"Good. You were supposed to be here earlier, but we can over look that for today. Please try not to make a habit of it though. You're going to learn basic first aid with me in the mornings."

Dream smiled. She would be having a few talks about punctuality with him before their time here was up, that was for sure. Dr. Grey turned to her next.

"And you're one of the new students as well, I take it?"

"Yes. I'm," she paused for a moment, unsure of which name to give. The woman seemed nice enough, but Liz didn't think she wanted to get to know her anymore than she did now, meaning only by name and profession. "I'm Dream."

"Ah, yes," she said, sifting through the pages on the clipboard in her hands. "You're scheduled for a check-up later today."

Liz nodded then pulled her wrinkled itinerary out of her pocket. Indeed, she was supposed to come back there after dinner. Was there anyway around that? She didn't like hospitals much, and this one happened to have a worse vibe than usual. _Everything_ was steel.

"Can I go now?" Kit asked. "I want to go see my room, and explore."

Dr. Grey's smile brightened a bit.

"Yes, you're free to go. You need to eat more, but you'll be fine."

The fox girl cried triumphantly, grabbed both Liz's and Durango's arm, and lead them quickly out the door and down a few hallways.

"What's the rush, Squirt?" Durango asked testily. Having to run never sat well with him. Kit shrugged.

"Well, you didn't want to stay there did you?"

Unable to argue the other two shrugged and continued walking.

"So….do either of you know where my room is?"

"You're rooming with me," Liz said trying to recognize the hallway they were walking down. "I think it's this way."

Two tentative left turns, and one right turn later, they were passing by the Rec. Room and Liz had her bearings again and Kit's laughter was finally dying down. By the time they made it to the room, she was at it again, while Liz tried half heartedly to defend her sense of direction. Inside, Kit promptly flopped onto her bed, while Jeezer flopped on the other, apparently tired from their trek across the house. Liz rolled her eyes at him, and then at her self when she noticed what looked like a map of the mansion laying innocently on her nightstand where it must have been sitting just below her schedule that morning.

"Hey! I get to take an art class. Neat!" Seeing that Kit was checking out her new classes, Dream pulled her itinerary out again, as well.

She had missed Biology and U.S. History. Third period was P.E. then, came English, and then study hall until she chose her electives.

She glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes until third period.


End file.
